The proposed research will investigate families' ability to cope with stressful life events as a function of families' interaction resources, i.e., family cohesion, family adaptability, marital adjustment, parent-child relations, and consensus between family members in the perception of family processes. Consistent with Hill's ABCX framework, the study hypothesizes that, when stressful events impinge on the family, and the family is called upon to cope with these events, healthy patterns of family interaction enable its members to develop responses, communicate with each other, and reduce the negative impact of the event. The research will measure, in addition to the family interaction resources listed above, the pile-up of stressful events encountered by families over the previous 12 months, the family's definition of these events, the coping behaviors initiated in response to these events, and the emotional distress of family members. The study is unique in that dimensions of family interaction will be measured from the perspective of all family members, children included; patterns of agreement/disagreement between members in perceiving their own interaction will be a major independent variable in this research. Survey methodology will be employed to interview children (ages 8 to 15) and their parents in intact families. A probability sample of households in the Philadelphia area will be drawn from pre-existing ISR household listings to yield a total of 400 families and approximately 1,400 interviews (400 wives, 400 husbands, and 600 children). All family members will complete a parent behavior inventory, a marital adjustment scale, and the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation scales. In addition, parents will be interviewed concerning stressor events experienced by the family, coping behaviors employed, and emotional distress resulting from stressor events.